The Great Contraction, 1929-1933

De: Milton Friedman

Narrado por: A. C. Fellner

Friedman and Schwartz's A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, published in 1963, stands as one of the most influential economics books of the 20th century. A landmark achievement, the book marshaled massive historical data and sharp analytics to support the claim that monetary policy--steady control of the money supply--matters profoundly in the management of the nation's economy, especially in navigating serious economic fluctuations. The chapter entitled "The Great Contraction, 1929-33" addressed the central economic event of the century, the Great Depression.

Published as a stand-alone paperback in 1965, The Great Contraction, 1929-1933 argued that the Federal Reserve could have stemmed the severity of the Depression, but failed to exercise its role of managing the monetary system and ameliorating banking panics. The book served as a clarion call to the monetarist school of thought by emphasizing the importance of the money supply in the functioning of the economy--a concept that has come to inform the actions of central banks worldwide.

This edition of the original text includes a new preface by Anna Jacobson Schwartz, as well as a new introduction by the economist Peter Bernstein. It also includes comments from the current Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, originally made on the occasion of Milton Friedman's 90th birthday, on the enduring influence of Friedman and Schwartz's work and vision.

©2008 Milton Friedman (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Surprising, but dry.

I was pleased to see that Milton Friedman was not as doctrinaire as some that have followed him. I particularly appreciate many of his arguments in favor of Fed intervention. The follow on piece by Ben Bernanke was good to clarify, or reinforce, arguments made in this book. I know his focus was on Monetary policy, but I missed something about the conditions which might have contributed to many of the phenomenon he wrote about. It seems to be things like bank failures were as much about overall economic conditions as they were about poor policy choices. Interesting, but dry, and filled with jargon.

You must read and understand this to think you understand anything

A huge fan of Friedman. His insights and empirical studies are a lynchpin to understand the historic connections of our economic and monetary policies. Been reading this and the fall of 2025 with the conflict between a possible replacement for Powell by kevin Walsh makes this as topical as it can be make this is topical it could be.

In the last chapter of the book in the last section of the book has been Bernacki speaks of comparisons that Friedman made to the leadership of the fed following Strong‘s death in 1929, direct parallels can be made to his replacement Harrison and Jerome Powell of today. Both were attorneys, both lacked power persuasion., Both were ineffective leaders. Trump’s effort replace Howell by Kevin warsh where his equivalent are essential to matching a monetary policy to his expensive growth policies.

Toward the end of the book in this section of evaluation, one of the things mentioned with the mistake that they made and assuming that that low nominal interest rate was a threat to of inflation. He showed this and discussed this to be wrong and let the fed in the wrong direction leading to the 1934 and on depression to follow.

Latest economic readings show the second quarter growth GDP at 3.8% and that industrial output is exceeding consumption. This means that supply is out pacing demand and should allow for rapid growth with lower interest rates and not lead to inflation.

God help us all. And I’m really rooting for Kevin.

Great Book

I only wish the full A Monetary History of the United States was on audiobook.

Wait for it...

First half is painful. Second half can start to see the light. Have google ready for some concepts lacking explanation.

A different explanation for the Great Depression.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Great Contraction, 1929-1933 to be better than the print version?

Yes. I tend to fall asleep reading a complicated book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What about A. C. Fellner’s performance did you like?

Easily understood.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was very sad to realize how much hardship for so many was caused by misguided government policies!

Very factual, but not exactly a page turner!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

No. It is good for what it is. It could be made more interesting by adding contemporary comparisons, but this would make the book lose its relevance over time.

Did A. C. Fellner do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Not Applicable

Could you see The Great Contraction, 1929-1933 being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No, no chance!

Any additional comments?

Comparisons to competing Economic theories and practitioners would be interesting too.

common sense perspective

this book is definitely above my pay grade but what I got out of it was a complete banking failure as well as it brought up other ideas when it comes to gold standard that I never thought about. definitely worth your time if you can understand the principles

Had to Stop Listening

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This book may be great for one economist to understand another. My problem is that I'm not coming from the perspective of a 4th year economics major. The terms and tone are not for the lay person trying to understand general economic principles.

I was hoping for something more in line with